Low profile gastrojejunostomy (“G-J”) feeding tubes have been developed for use in smaller patients, such as pediatric patients, in small sizes such as 14 French. As the G-J feeding tubes are placed in younger and younger patients, the intestinal anatomy that the device is used in also becomes smaller. The jejunal portion of the small intestine in infants is very tight, compact and tortuous. The entire gastrointestinal tract fits in an abdominal cavity roughly the size of a softball. Each twist and turn of the jejunum must be navigated by the distal portion of the G-J device tube.
As the jejunal path becomes more tortuous, the probability of kinking of the G-J tube increases. If the tubing kinks, the device is rendered ineffective and must be replaced with a new device. Most patients that depend upon direct jejunal feedings for nutrition cannot tolerate a kinked tube for very long. Since most G-J device placements are performed by interventional radiology, the occurrence (or reoccurrence) of this expensive procedure, which is typically scheduled in advance, is something that hospitals and insurance companies would like to limit. Parents of pediatric patients would also like to reduce the time spent at the hospital, as well as the amount of radiation exposure to their children during fluoroscopy placements. Examples of kinked G-J tubing known in the prior art are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 depicts a kinked multi-lumen tube 2 and FIG. 2 depicts a kinked single lumen tube 4. As is evident, kinking involves restricting flow through the tubing either partially or entirely.